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Privacy struggles

Stop with Facebook: ‘it’s an addictive product’

Delete Facebook request Arjan Lubach goes viral

Facebook becomes more transparant but doesn’t stop with data collection

These are some of the headlines on news websites in the Netherlands over the last few weeks. But not only in the Netherlands people are getting nervous.. Facebook became a target for critisism and that is not for nothing. That Facebook is collecting data isn’t that surprising. Ofcourse platforms like these want to earn money with advertising and therefore collect data to be able to connect advertisers to the right profiles. I wasn’t schocked. However, the moment general conditions of platforms like Facebook became more and more clear when the company Koppie Koppie started selling mugs with random online pictures. How much privacy do we actually still have left?

More than you know
Koppie Koppie sold mugs with pictures of someone elses children on it. A joke? Yes, but one with a serious note, like they explain on their website. On the mugs – sold for € 0,90 – they printed pictures they found on the photo platform Flickr. On this platform, the photographers share their content under the creative commons licence, which allows others using the content for commercial purposes. Something that became reality with Facebook as well. All users of the platform gave Facebook the permission of saving and re-using all pictures, textst, videos posted on the platform, Instagram, Whatsapp… and so on..

Struggle with privacy
Protecting your privacy became a struggle. Not allowing anyone so see your Facebook posts and setting your Instagram account on ‘private’, doesn’t make your account that private as you may think. Friends who are sharing photos of you already can do the trick. But also the companies use your information, search behaviour, click behaviour and in the case of the Cambridge Analytica scandal even phone numbers from personal contact lists were taken. So, be aware of what is happening, what you share and what information might be tracked by other parties. Arjan Lubachs Bye Bye Facebook event did not result in many deleted Facebook profiles, which underlines the power that Facebook has even more. Be aware of it and don’t get lost.